Cody Jarrett (played by Cagney) is a cold-blooded killer who has an uncomfortable oedipal relationship with his domineering mother (Margaret Wycherly). When Jarrett learns of her murder while he is in prison, he virtually wrecks the mess hall in a fit of uncontrolled rage. Soon after, he and several other inmates—one of whom is actually an undercover agent (Edmond O’Brien)—escape from prison. After Jarrett’s gang decides to rob a chemical factory, the agent alerts the police to their plans. In the ensuing gunfight, Jarrett becomes cornered atop an oil-refinery tank. He screams, “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” as he unloads his gun into the tank, and he dies in the resulting inferno.

James Cagney (left) and Edmond O’Brien in White Heat (1949), directed by …

Probably more so than any other film, White Heat epitomized Cagney as the king of the gangster film genre, even though it was his first crime movie in 10 years. On the surface, White Heat is a routine caper film. However, Cagney’s larger-than-life performance, coupled with an impressive supporting cast under the direction of Raoul Walsh, led critics to place the film among the best of its genre. In addition, Jarrett’s fiery end is considered one of cinema’s most-indelible images.

Academy Award nominations

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...reworked High Sierra into Colorado Territory (1949), which worked well as a western with Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, and Dorothy Malone. But it was White Heat (1949) that showed Walsh once more at the peak of his powers; Cagney had one of his greatest roles as Cody Jarrett, a psychopathic yet pathetically tortured...